Interview Trish

#GlobeTrottrProfile

“Vietnamese people make it very easy for foreigners to come here and feel very welcome, at home, find a job, find a place to live, move around. It’s difficult to explained. Most of the places I’ve been, just general day-to-day living, transportation, the stresses of day-to-day makes life more complicated than it needs to be. Vietnam for me has made life very easy, simple, and straight forward. I don’t know, easy is not such a good word I like to use, but I kind of perfectly describes how I feel here. It’s easy and I feel at ease, its lovely”

What is your name and where are you from?

My name is Trish and I’m come from London but I’m Irish.

Why did you come to Vietnam?

I came here to train to be a teacher and to get a job as a teacher. I just started new career as a teacher.

What do you like the most in Vietnam?

Ahm…The people. The city – Saigon – is quite crazy, it’s very busy and it’s quite difficult to get around because it’s so hot, so busy. But the Grab service is fantastic, so other than the people, I think the Grab service is probably my next favorite thing in Vietnam.

How long have you stayed here? When will you decide to come back to your country?

I’ve been here for 7 months now. When will I go back?? Uhm.. I’m going back home for holiday in February but then I’m back in Saigon to finish all of contract I’ve got with my job. And when that contract is finished is in the end of August in 2018 and then decide what am I going to do next or am I stay here for longer?

Do you think is it difficult to find a place to live in HCMC?

No. I found it quite easy. And I was lucky when I’ve first got here and met some Vietnamese friends so my first accommodation, I got it through a friend of mine – a Vietnamese friend of mine. She was able to negotiate the contract, something like that so I’m quite lucky. But for expats, there are quite a lot of ads for properties. The price is more expensive for an expat. So if you are lucky in have a Vietnamese friend, I suggest you lean on them to help you get the property. My second accommodation is in GlobeTrottr, I stumbled on GlobeTrottr by an accident and I think it’s on craigslist where I saw some property’s advertises and I met a guy called Thomas who works for GlobeTrottr. He took me to see few properties and I picked it when I’m in. that’s quite easy.

Where do you live now? What do you think about your neighborhood?

I live in Binh Thanh just down the street from here which kind of inside the official entrance to Van Thanh Park. I love my neighborhood, the street I’m living on is all Vietnamese and they are very friendly, nice, smile every morning. I’ve got Van Thanh Park, swimming pool, lovely café and restaurants, and it’s only 10 minutes’ walk to my job. So it’s perfect.

According to you on which point can we improve?

Ah…on which point can GlobeTrottr improve? Ah…Swifter response to household problems. If there is a problem in the property, we immediately email you and we got immediately automatic email back which suggest there is somebody would be around in 24 to 48 hours. That’s fine if it’s not an emergency but I’m not sure what the service would be like if it was an emergency, 24 hours would be too long in an emergency situation. Generally, it’s pretty good just be a bit swifter.

Can you tell me a little story about what has happened during your trip?

So…I wanted to change my life, my career, my travel potential so I decided to quit my job in London and rent out my home, sell my car and I bought one-way ticket to Saigon. I started TEFL course which lasted full one month, so an intensive TEFL course to gain the skills to become a teacher. As soon as I finish that course I was offered to work, so I was very lucky. I rented a temporary accommodation with a Pilipino friend of mine with the help of a Vietnamese friends that I met. I had a great time for one month just making sure I got the right job and was doing some of the jobs I was offered, just evening classes and day classes, but nothing concrete or no contract. A month after that I received confirmation of two very good job offers. Both of which wanted me to sign for one year. I took the HUTECH job, so now I am a lecturer at HUTECH University. So I’ve been very lucky. I’ve been doing that now since the school semester started. But before I started that properly I did travel around Vietnam as much as I could. So I’ve been to Ha Long Bay, Ha Noi, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnels, Vung Tau. I still have to Da Lat, Hue, Sapa, so I still got a lot to see. I will see Can Tho in January when I do my next trip.

Can you describe Vietnam in one word?

Uhhh..That’s difficult in one word. I wanted say EASY but it doesn’t sound particularly flattering as it meant to be because Vietnamese people make it very easy for foreigners to come here and feel very welcome, at home, find a job, find a place to live, move around. It’s difficult to explained. Most of the places I’ve been, just general day-to-day living, transportation, the stresses of day-to-day makes life more complicated than it needs to be. Vietnam for me has made life very easy, simple, and straight forward. I don’t know, easy is not such a good word I like to use, but I kind of perfectly describes how I feel here. It’s easy and I feel at ease, its lovely.

What will be your next destination?

Not really, I’ll work my contract here in Saigon and then I’ll decide from there whether I want to stay in Vietnam just to work in a different city. Stay in Saigon for another year or change up and move to a different country, but I’m not sure yet.

About GlobeTrottr

GlobeTrottr provides a unique hosting service for long term and semi-long term stays in Saigon with like-minded people under the same roof without the hassle of searching for trusted landlords and real estate agents.
This blog is a piece of our journey in the city of Saigon.